Chico’s joins retailers at new mall

Chico’s, an upscale women’s apparel chain, will open a new store inside the Mall at University Town Center.

Building permits filed with Sarasota County last week show that Chico’s, a national chain retailer which has four stores in Southwest Florida already, plans to open a third inside the Mall at University Town Center, which will open in October. Chico’s stores are in Westfield Group’s Southgate Mall, on St. Armands Circle, on Main Street in Lakewood Ranch and there’s an outlet store in Ellenton Premium Outlets. It is unclear at this time if those stores will close once the new 880,000-square-foot mall opens at Interstate 75 and University Parkway.

Chico’s operates more than a thousand stores across the country and was founded in Sanibel Island, Fla. Under the Chico’s company umbrella are brands White House Black Market and Soma Intimates, which also announced would open new stores in the new mall.

The Herald-Tribune reported brands like Apple, Anthropologie, Crate & Barrel and H&M, among many others, would open their first stores in Southwest Florida inside the $315 million luxury mall being developed by Taubman Centers and Benderson Development.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.